Yahlive wins top spot

Satellite operator Yahlive has been found by research company Ipsos Connect to be the most popular broadcast provider over the Farsi-speaking regions of the Middle East and South-west Asia.

The research found that based on the channels received, Yahlive’s market share increased from 20 per cent to 34 per cent between 2014 and 2015 amongst the wider Farsi-speaking population. This strong growth was further reflected with respect to satellite users, where Yahlive’s market share increased from 27 per cent to 49 per cent during the year within the Farsi-speaking community.

The report found that Farsi-speaking DTH viewer numbers in Tajikistan exceeded two million in 2015, while viewer numbers of exclusive Farsi-based terrestrial networks in Afghanistan and the UAE reached 8.94 million. Combined, the total number of viewers of Farsi content over DTH Terrestrial Networks grew by approximately 50 per cent between 2014 and 2015 from north of 26 million to 39 million.

The research, which was based on a sample consisting of people aged 15 years and older, who are TV viewers (of free-to-air TV, pay TV and online TV viewers), and watch TV at least three days a week, found that the number of Farsi Direct To Home (DTH) viewers had risen across the sample region by 75 per cent from 16 million in 2014 to 28 million in 2015.

The research by Ipsos Connect found that 54 per cent of respondents who were asked why they had chosen Yahlive as their satellite broadcast provider within the Farsi community answered that it was because of the wider programme content available.

Yahlive, headquartered in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, was launched in 2011 as a joint venture between the world leading satellite operator SES, and Yahsat a pioneering UAE-based satellite operator wholly owned by Mubadala, one of the leading Investment Arms of Abu Dhabi.